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Last week, the S&P 500 put up its best week of the year, closing above key psychological levels and breaking through bearish technical resistance, with bulls largely inspired by the dovish FOMC meeting minutes. But this year’s market has been news-driven and quite difficult for traders to read. Even our fundamentals-based and quality-oriented quant models have struggled to perform.

Stocks have shown some resiliency this week as they have made an attempt to recover from last week’s weakness, which was primarily due to the imminent threat of a US strike on Syria. Also, the senior portfolio managers are returning to the fold after taking some time off in late August, and they are likely seeing more opportunities than threats at the moment.

Volume remains low as the bulls continue to await Wall Street’s return from late summer vacations...and a firm plan from the central banks. (I think many portfolio managers must be spending their days in the stands at the U.S. Open tennis tournament.) The S&P 500 closed out August with a third straight monthly gain.